From the Farmer's Market.

We finally made it downtown to the Old Market Farmer's Market. It was our first time there this year. I so love walking the crowded "aisles" filled with empty-nesters with their baskets of fresh produce, young moms with babes strapped to them in various fashions, fiddlers and accordion-players, and dogs of all sizes. Today we stocked up on some red bell peppers (a steal compared to grocery store prices), fresh basil and some farm-fresh eggs.

Our sad excuse for a garden (looks more like a jungle) has managed to produce an abundance of tomatoes. So, I put them to use and thought I would share with you the recipe for one of my favorite uses for fresh tomatoes and basil - bruschetta! This recipe comes from Toast to Omaha: A Cookbook.

Tasting Room Bruschetta

10 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 teaspoon dried oregano

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red onion, minced

1 1/2 Tablespoons kosher salt (this can be cut back)

1/4 cup shallot, minced

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon sugar

8 basil leaves, chiffonade cut (click here for how-to, I didn't know what this was either)

In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, garlic, onion, shallot, vinegar, sugar, basil leaves, oregano and olive oil together and taste. Season with salt and peppers. Mixture will hold for 4-5 days, but is best served fresh. Serve on toasted baguette slices. Serves 6.

We didn't have any baguettes on hand, so I used the recipe in this video. It's awesome. You can either pull out a couple of fist-fulls of dough to make fresh bread each day, or make them all at once and freeze, they keep well. Makes about 4 small loaves. By the way, they don't tell you in the video, but loaves should be baked at 450 degrees for 30 minutes.